PATIENTS are furious after a tribunal ruled not to strike off a spinal specialist who admitted a catalogue of mistakes during operations at private Ross Hall hospital.

A SURGEON who left patients crippled and in agony was yesterday cleared to carry on working – to the fury of his victims.

Spinal specialist Colin Mainds admitted a catalogue of mistakes while operating on nine different patients at a private hospital between 2008 and 2009.

But a tribunal who ruled his fitness to practise was impaired have decided not to strike him off.

And former patients slammed the decision by the panel of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service.

Alan Middleton, who requires a wheelchair after botched surgery by Mainds, 56, said: “He should be struck off. It’s not right.

“He’s going to kill someone eventually. What was the point of me going to give evidence?”

Alan, from Glenrothes, Fife, whose story was revealed in the Record yesterday, added: “It’s great he’s been sanctioned, but he shouldn’t be in the job at all. It’s not just these nine people. There are lots of others who are coming forward.”

Mainds, from Arran, worked at the private Ross Hall Hospital in Glasgow but was suspended once the cases came to light.

His errors included misplacing implants and screws, carrying out inappropriate surgery and failing to make adequate checks on patients after allowing his work to “spiral out of control”.

The panel ruled yesterday that he should be allowed to continue to practise with a number of strict working conditions, including working under the close supervision of a consultant, for two years.

He will only be allowed to work in the NHS and is barred from private practice.

Since the tribunal hearing in March, a number of other victims have come forward.

Among those who say their lives have been blighted is former Hibs starlet Jonathan Baillie, 27, who fears operations by Mainds were behind the pain which cost him a promising career in football.

Sean Spence, 45, from Edinburgh, is in constant pain after Mainds put a spinal implant in the wrong place. He called yesterday’s ruling “crazy” and called for the surgeon to be struck off.

He said: “Problems were flagged up about this guy’s work in 1995 and he’s been allowed to operate on people all that time without having the skills.

“I actually think he is a danger to patients. The only person he is interested in is himself.”

As well as making mistakes during surgery, he was found to have kept poor records and failed to tell patients about his clinical errors.

The tribunal heard that he carried out inappropriate surgery on a 20-year-old woman in July 2009 by using an implant unsuitable for someone of her age and condition.

Another patient told the hearing she was “unnerved” by Mainds’s casual approach before he misplaced two screws in her spine.

Panel chairman David Flinter told Mainds: “The panel had at the forefront of its mind that your inadequate surgery had far-reaching consequences for nine patients.

“However, the panel recognise that the incidents took place over a limited period in an otherwise unblemished career.”

Mr Flinter said the incidents happened when Mainds’s workload had increased significantly because of a waiting list initiative under which private hospitals took patients from NHS hospitals.

Gordon Innes, head of litigation at law firm Gillespie MacAndrew, who are representing several former patients in negligence cases, said his clients would be “somewhat surprised” at the tribunal ruling.

He said that in addition to the patients from Ross Hall, seven other people with complaints against Mainds from different hospitals had approached the firm.

Mainds claimed he let his workload “spiral out of control”, taking on up to 630 patients a year and doing more than 400 ops.

He will have to face a review hearing before his two years of conditional work are over to determine if he will be allowed to return to unrestricted work.

Margaret Watt, chairman of the Scotland Patients Association, said last night: “I would have thought this chap would have been held in suspension and put on a rigorous training programme.

“It does give confidence to know that he will be getting tested.

“It won’t do anything for the patients who have been damaged by him, however. “

Labour health spokesman Jackie Baillie said the result was disappointing and would be no comfort to Mainds’s victims.

The Record spoke to patients who were operated on by Mainds:

Sean Spence

SEAN SPENCE

SEAN, from Newcraighall in Edinburgh, described his 2009 operation by Mainds as his “last throw of the dice” after previous ops failed to stop his constant back pain and get him back to work on the railways.

But the surgeon placed a Wallis ligament implant in the wrong place, with catastrophic ?consequences for Sean.

He said: “I wake up every morning and feel like I’ve been beaten up. I have to take my medication just to walk.”

Sean, who was one of the nine patients named in the charges, added: “The staff at the hospital actually gave me the nod about other people who had the same problem and that’s how I met Alan Middleton.

“It has seriously damaged my back. I don’t have to use a wheelchair or sticks, but am in constant pain and can’t put much ?pressure on my leg.”

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Jonathan Baillie

JONATHAN BAILLIE

JONATHAN looked set for a promising career as a centre-half at Hibs.

But his dreams were cut short in 2006 after a serious back problem forced him to retire at 21.

Jonathan, from Ayr, fears that two failed operations by Mainds may have been the cause of his constant pain and failed career.

And the 27-year-old is taking legal advice over whether to pursue a claim.

Jonathan, who had a microdiscectomy carried out by Mainds, is still in severe pain.

He said: “I don’t know if Mainds did make a mistake. All I know is that after the first operation, I was a lot worse.

“You think, if I hadn’t gone for that first operation, I wonder where would I be now.”

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James Gibb

JAMES GIBB

GRANDFATHER James was shocked at Mainds’s “nonchalant” attitude when he complained of more pain following a spinal op.

The 58-year-old former electrician was suffering from severe back pain after Mainds carried out a ?discectomy on him at the Victoria Hospital, Glasgow, in 1999.

But despite his pleas for help, Mainds simply offered him painkillers that he was already on.

James, from East Kilbride, is now forced to use crutches and a ?wheelchair to get around.

He said: “I had a discectomy with Mainds in 1999 and my life has been a living hell ever since.

“When they told me it hadn’t worked as it should have, Mainds said I was one of the percentage it didn’t work on. He said, ‘Tough luck.’ That was his ?attitude.”

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Bill Drennan

BILL DRENNAN

BILL came into contact with Mainds after a car crash with a drunk driver left him crippled with pain in 1996.

The 55-year-old – who had to quit his job as a senior manager with a tyre firm – went under the knife three times from 1998.

The third op left grandad Bill, from Glasgow, with a spinal fluid leak.

He only discovered the blunder when he was hit by agonising pain two days later.

After the discovery, Bill spent two weeks face down on a hospital bed trying to keep the fluid in his body.

He said: “Not once have I had an apology from this individual. I’m gubbed, in between chairs and a wheelchair. My whole family have to give me support.

“I feel sick to the stomach reading about this guy.

“Sitting here 15 years after the event, I wonder would I have had a quality of life if I had never met him.”